


and i swear on this cold, hard floor

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 10:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19990648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "When Rhodey opens the door to his dorm, he half expects his roommate to either be occupied with school work or sleeping soundly in the mere corner of his bed.Instead, he finds Tony Stark sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, his cheeks stained red and a pout on his face. He’s got his knees pulled up to his chest, and his chin resting on his palm while his elbow is on his knee. He does not even acknowledge that Rhodey had opened the door - does not even flinch. "





	and i swear on this cold, hard floor

**Author's Note:**

> ive been meaning to write some rhodeytony for a few months now. so i did. bless.

When Rhodey opens the door to his dorm, he half expects his roommate to either be occupied with school work or sleeping soundly in the mere corner of his bed. 

Instead, he finds Tony Stark sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, his cheeks stained red and a pout on his face. He’s got his knees pulled up to his chest, and his chin resting on his palm while his elbow is on his knee. He does not even acknowledge that Rhodey had opened the door - does not even flinch. 

“Tony,” Rhodey begins, closing the door behind him and kneeling down in front of him. “Tony, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Tony croaks. “I’m fine. Can’t you tell?”

Rhodey’s face falters - he’s known Tony long enough to figure out that sarcasm is a coping mechanism for him. He knows there’s no bite behind his remarks. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Tony stares straight ahead, his gaze unwavering. His eyes are glossy, and his foot makes an incessant tapping noise against the hard floor. The lack of words is deafening, and Rhodey can only feel his pounding heart, beating rapidly at the worry of his roommate and best friend. He carefully places a hand on Tony’s arm - the one not underneath his chin but resting around his knees. It’s only slight, but he feels Tony lean into the touch.

“You don’t have to,” Rhodey finally says. 

Tony sighs and takes a deep breath. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just...frustrating. That’s the fuckin’ word.  _ Frustrating.” _

Rhodey cocks his head and falls onto his butt, mimicking the same position Tony is in. “Frustrating? What exactly is frustrating?”

Tony stares at him and shakes his head. “Rhodey, stop. I appreciate you so much, but you’re not a therapist. I shouldn’t lay my problems on you.”

A sinking feeling overwhelms Rhodey, like his heart has a hole in it. Rhodey will do anything to make Tony happy. He’s his best friend. Perhaps his heart beats a little bit too fast when he’s around Tony, or perhaps sometimes he wishes that he could kiss him, and look into those warm, brown eyes as he does so.

But at the moment, all of that doesn’t matter, and Rhodey pushes it into the back of his mind. 

Rhodey smiles, and reaches out to squeeze Tony’s shoulder. “You are never a burden to me, Tony. I have no idea where you would have even gotten that idea.” 

“A friendship shouldn’t be a patient and therapist one, Rhodey, you know that.” Tony mutters, shaking his head again. “And I’m starting to feel like this is becoming one.”

“Tony,  _ you _ feel that.” Rhodey raises his eyebrows at him. “Tony, you’ve sort of shut me out a little bit, we haven’t had a conversation like this in awhile.”

“Well, I did that so it wasn’t a very one-sided friendship.”

“We’ll never be one-sided.”

“I don’t know, I’ve seemed to make it that way. Here you are, on the dirty ass floor, trying to console me after  _ my _ mess.” Tony spats the word ‘my’ in disgust, and he pulls in his knees closer to his chest. It makes him look smaller, Rhodey notices.

He shakes his head. “No, Tony, because I get like this too. Do you remember when I had almost failed Statics? And I was struggling to prepare for the exam? Do you remember you sitting on the floor, just near my bed over there, consoling my ass because I was panicking? Do you remember how long you stayed up, helping me study?”

Tony blinks. “Uh, I think it was six hours?”

“Six hours,” Rhodey confirms. “Tony, I can tell you first hand that our friendship truly does go both ways. I want to help you feel better. That’s my job as a supportive best friend, as well as yours. Look at me.” Rhodey waits for Tony’s eyes to fall back on his. “Now tell me what happened.”

Tony inhales sharply before lowering his gaze. “My father called.”

Rhodey bites his lip and covers his mouth. Tony’s father is notorious for being just a shitty human being. “What’d he say to you, Tony?”

“He was drunk.” Tony murmurs, as if it were an excuse. 

“I don’t care if he was drunk, high, on steroids, or King of the world.” Rhodey narrows his eyes. “What’d he say to you?”

“Oh you know, the fucking usual,” Tony scoffs. “Like how I’m a complete fuck up, a waste of space, pretty sure he threw in some gay slurs in there. How I probably shouldn’t bother coming home for breaks, you know, all of that good stuff.” He sniffs, and his eyes start to water. “That I’d be lonely for the rest of my life. And you know, tomorrow, I’ll probably get another phone call from him, profusely apologizing to me because he didn’t mean a single word. It’s just... _ frustrating _ , Rhodey.”

“Well, you’re not a complete fuck up. Let’s start there.” Rhodey is seething, but tries to remain calm in his voice. “Nor are you a waste of space. You don’t deserve this fucking trashbag as a human being as a father.” Rhodey shakes his head, fuming. “And you’re going to come home with me during break.”

Tony’s eyes widen. “Man, that’s kind of you, but I can’t do tha-”

“Shut up, Tony.” Rhodey says, but it’s soft. “I can’t, in my good conscious, let you go back to that household.”

A chuckle briefly escapes Tony’s throat. “You’re so stubborn. I knew there was a reason we fit so well together.”

_ Together. _ That word does something to Rhodey’s heart. “Of course, Tones. Man, you’re my best friend.”

Tony smiles - but it soon fades. “You really think he’s right when he says I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life?”

“Nah, you’ll always have me.” Rhodey reassures, shooting Tony a soft smile. 

“Haha,” Tony chuckles. “I mean...you know what I mean.”

“You mean someone to love you despite your mistakes, your insecurities, and you overall flaws?”

“Well,” Tony looks down. “Yeah.”

Rhodey is stuck. On one hand, this  _ is  _ a prime opportunity to confess that  _ yes, Tony, I love you even with all of that and I want to love you for the rest of my life. _ But on the other hand, if Tony doesn’t feel similar, then he could lose his best friend. And that would be horrible for the both of them, especially with what Tony is going through at the -

“Rhodey?” Tony interrupts his thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah?”

Tony tilts his head. “You’ve been quiet for a few minutes.”

Rhodey rubs at his eyes. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Look, Tony.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m always going to be here for you, okay? No matter what happens.”  _ Even if it means suppressing my feelings for you for the rest of eternity. _

“No matter what happens?”

“No matter what happens.”

“Well,” Tony sits up straighter and inhales deeply. “Then I don’t want to be lonely anymore.”

Rhodey arches his eyebrows. “What? Tones, I said you weren't lone-”

“Rhodey, I mean I’m going to finally...I’m going to finally tell someone how I feel about them. I didn’t want to.” Tony manages a smirk. “But he just told me that he’d always be there for me, regardless.”

Rhodey’s mouth drops, just a bit. “Wait..”

“Yes, Rhodey. I have a crush on you.” Tony wipes his eyes. “And this is really fucking scary, because I am taking a huge risk here. But if you can get through all the shit I’ve been through, then maybe, perhaps, if things go to shit, you can get over this too.”

Rhodey smiles - a grin he has never felt himself smile before. It’s wide, and an overwhelming feeling of happiness and butterflies flutters through his system. “Well, I’m not going to get over this, because I’ve absolutely been smitten with you for a long time.”

Now it’s Tony’s turn to return the smile. “You are?”

“Tony, your father told you that you’d never find someone because of your flaws. Well, jokes on him. Because you’re everything to me, and I love you despite all of them. In fact, one of my greatest joys is being with you, and that’s on your worst days, too. A moment with you on your worst day is infinitely better than no moment at all with you.” Rhodey explains, and he’s feeling himself get emotional. “I will sit on a million floors with you until the end of time, because there isn’t a moment in my life that I don’t want to spend it with you.”

“Wow, Rhodeybear.” Tony smiles, his face blushing a bit. “I didn’t realize how much of a sap you are. And I can’t believe we didn’t talk to each other about this sooner.”

“So fuck your father, Tones.” Rhodey squeezes his shoulder. “He’s wrong. Dead wrong.”

Tony glances at the hand on his shoulder then back to Rhodey before he leans in and presses a kiss to his lips. He pulls back, a bit hesitant. “That okay?” He asks a bit softly.

“Of course, Tones. It’s always okay.” Rhodey reminds him. Because it is. And also because he’s infatuated with the feeling he got when Tony kissed him.

  
  


Tony leans in again, and Rhodey meets him in the middle. 

No, Rhodey did not expect this when he opened the door to his dorm, but is he damn well glad it happened.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are so very appreciated! i really thrive off of comments and i love you all so much.
> 
> this work is unbetad,
> 
> check me out on [twitter.](https://www.twitter.com/mcuomens)  
> check me out on [tumblr.](https://mculeaf.tumblr.com/)


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